


Better Better

by joy_infires



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 00 line are like 19, Alternate Universe - College/University, Chan is a good bean, Chan's bf is an ass, Cheating, Emotional Infidelity, Emotional Manipulation, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Love at First Sight, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slightly Aged-Up Character(s), Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Unhealthy Relationships, side hyunsung yay, some drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-06-13 23:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15375981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joy_infires/pseuds/joy_infires
Summary: Chan has been in an unhealthy relationship for years. Minho wants to show him what real love looks like.Warning: emotional manipulation





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I've decided to post a minchan fic yay!  
> Updates are prolly gonna be slow because I started writing this yesterday but couldn't wait to uplaod it...  
> I hope y'all are gonna like it. It's not my best work...

Chan sighed, silently asking himself for the nth time this semester why he had listened to his parents. He hated business and economics. It wasn’t his passion, but everyone had told him that studying music wouldn’t get him anywhere. Now, here he was in his junior year in college, studying something he absolutely hated, only because he had been tired of the discussions and the fights.

Nobody supported his dream; his friends, his siblings, even his boyfriend...they all thought that his love and interest for music was just a phase. Chan knew better. Music was the only way he could truly express himself; writing lyrics or composing a melody. It was _his_ thing, something he was good at.

With yet another defeated sigh, Chan got up from his seat at the library table walking over to the business section in search for another set of boring ass books he needed for his notes. He quickly gathered everything and turned around, ready to throw himself into more hours of torture in the form of studying, when he collided with someone.

Books went flying everywhere and Chan feared for a second that the vulture-like librarian would show up any given minute and kick him out. She didn’t seem to have heard the little commotion, though, allowing Chan to get up and reach a hand out for whoever he’d just knocked over.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you”, he whispered, finally taking a proper look at the other person who had grabbed his hand, letting himself get pulled up. Chan almost dropped him again in surprise, when he saw him. The guy was nothing short of gorgeous. He was slightly taller than him, well-built – probably an athlete – and just downright cute. Suddenly, it felt like an electric wire ran through his arm and he quickly let go of the him.  

“It was my fault”, the guy said in a soft voice. Chan wasn’t sure if his voice usually sounded like that or if he was just trying not to alarm the librarian. The two of them held a kind of intense eye contact for a while. Chan had never seen anyone so strikingly handsome. His dyed blonde hair, though his black roots were already starting to show, his chocolate brown cat-like eyes and the cute little mole on his nose...Chan was pretty sure he was staring.

“Um, I’m Minho”, the gorgeous man introduced himself with a cute little smile that made his cheeks look squishier. “Chan”, the other answered, resisting the urge to reach out and pinch the stranger, _Minho’s_ , cheeks. They kept smiling at each other for a while, which probably looked really dumb to other people, before Minho looked down at the floor where their books were scattered all over the place.

“We should pick these up, don’t you think?” he pointed out and crouched down to gather his stuff. Chan copied him, occasionally sneaking glances at the other. He should stop ogling this guy; he had a _boyfriend_ for Christ’s sake. But he’d always been a sucker for beauty. It inspired him to write his songs. He felt like he could write several songs about this guy.

A hand waving around in front of his face, interrupted his thoughts. He realized that Minho must have said something to him while he was busy staring. “Sorry, what?” Chan questioned dumbly. Minho giggled (and if that wasn’t the purest sound Chan had ever heard...).

“I asked what you were majoring in”, Minho repeated his previous question. Chan looked down at his books. “Oh, um, business and economics...what about you?” he asked. Minho beamed. “I’m a dance major.”

Chan noticed the sparkle in his eyes when he mentioned dance. He figured that Minho must really love what he was doing. For some reason, it didn’t make Chan feel bitter, like it usually did when someone talked about how they were able to something they were passionate about. Minho’s excitement made Chan feel warm and he felt a new wave of inspiration come over him.

“That sounds interesting. Are you a good dancer?” Chan questioned. Minho grinned, his chest swelling with pride. “I would say so”, the two of them got up from the floor as they’d gathered all their books, “though, I _could_ be lying. You should probably judge it yourself.”

Chan didn’t miss the smirk on Minho’s face at his own smoothness. “Is this you subtly trying to get my number to see me again?” Chan asked. Minho chuckled and leaned against the bookshelf next to him. “Depends...is it working?” “It is...”, Chan said, starting to walk back to his table as the books in his arms were getting kind of heavy. Minho tagged along with him.

“I have to be clear with you, though”, the former spoke up again, putting said books down on the table. “I have a boyfriend.” Minho’s face fell for the slightest second, but the smile was back on his face before Chan could even question it. “That’s cool with me. I’ll try my best not to make you fall for me as you watch me dance”, he said confidently.

Chan laughed. He’d just met this guy, but he felt like they would be getting along _really_ well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, here's chapter two for you guys! I really hope I can keep this fic up as many of my other works get stuck in the sand due to lack of inspiration. I have it all planned out and I hope the writing will go just as smoothly as the planning.

Chan didn't end up getting much studying done after he met Minho. He found the blonde dancer much more interesting. They had a hushed conversation in the library getting to know each other a little better. Chan learned that Minho was also a junior. He was 20 years old, making him younger than Chan by a year. He also found out that Minho had picked up dancing when he was only three years old and that the only thing he loved more than dancing was cats.

Everything about Minho was just so goddamn endearing. Chan found himself wanting to listen to him go on and on forever about the cats he had to leave at his parents' house or how he and his friends had formed a dance crew in high school, or literally anything he liked to talk about. His mind gave him an occasional reminder that he could get caught up with this guy, which would be wrong, since he had a boyfriend!

Minho asked questions about Chan's life as well. He told him that he'd been dating the same guy for six years and that he and his parents had talked him into studying business and economics. He told Minho about how he loved to make music and how he had dreamed of becoming a big producer and about how he now had to keep this dream kind of a secret because everyone looked down on it.

"You should do it. It's not too late", Minho encouraged him. Chan waved off, softly shaking his head. "Look, I know I don't know you. And I'm sorry if I'm overstepping, but I think that you shouldn't let others tell you what to do with your future. It's your life and you deserve to be happy", Minho told him seriously.

"Then again, I'm one to talk, right? I have my parents' full support. But if you have a passion you can't listen to what anyone else has to say. As long as you're not hurting anybody, you should follow your dreams. Make them reality. It feels good, trust me."

Chan smiled. He'd never seen it from that point of view. "I'll think about it...", he mumbled. That seemed to be enough for Minho for now. Chan reached into his pocket to check his phone. It was almost 7pm. "Do you want to get some coffee? I've been here since 9am and I'm craving some caffeine", he asked Minho, putting his phone back into his pocket.

"I'd kill for a latte", the younger replied with a grin. Chan laughed and got up. Together, they put their books back into their respective shelves before making their way out of the library. On the way out, they talked about random things like the music they liked – their taste was pretty similar, which delighted Chan -, their favorite movies and books; anything.

It was so easy to talk to Minho. For once in his life he didn't feel like he was being judged for his interests. Finally, someone even shared some of those interests. He definitely wanted to make this friendship work.

"Chan!" a low voice suddenly called out, causing him to tense up. He looked into the direction the voice had come from. His boyfriend; tall and handsome with only slightly too greasy black hair approached them. 

"Hey, Kangmin...", Chan greeted him. "Come on, I'm taking you out for dinner", Kangmin said, taking the other's hand, not even sparing Minho a glance, which Chan found rude, however chose not to comment on it, knowing that the slightly older male wouldn't really care.

"Um, what? You didn't say anything about dinner...", Chan trailed off. Kangmin shrugged. "I just decided that we should go. It's been a while since we went out, don't you think?" he asked. Chan didn't answer, instead just shooting Minho a sort of helpless look. The blonde looked shocked by the older's boyfriend's forceful behavior.

"What is it? Are your... _friends_  more important to you than I am?" Kangmin questioned accusingly, letting go of Chan's hand and finally looking at Minho – only to glare at him. Chan waved his hands around frantically. "Of course not, I was just surprised. You always just plan things without telling me...", he mumbled the last part, but Kangmin heard him. And so did Minho.

"I'm trying to be a good boyfriend here...you should be grateful instead of talking to me like this in front of others", Kangmin stated. Chan looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry..."

Minho finally spoke up: "We could have coffee another time?" he offered, ignoring Kangmin's scoff. Chan nodded without looking at him. He felt embarrassed about the way his boyfriend spoke to him in front of Minho. He didn't want to look weak to him.

"I'm sorry about the sudden change of plans", he apologized to the younger. "That's okay...um...have fun on your date, I guess...", Minho said, reaching out to touch Chan's upper arm and give it an encouraging squeeze. "I'll see you around", he added before taking off. He turned around one more time to give Chan another quick look and a half smile before kept on walking.

The older looked after him for a few more seconds before Kangmin took Chan's hand again and began to drag him away. "Who the hell was that?" he questioned. Chan wanted to free his hand, but Kangmin's grip only tightened around it. "A new friend. I just met him at the library and we talked a little", he explained to the taller male.

"Ah...", was his boyfriend's only response. "Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop acting like this in public. If I want to take you out for dinner, you should just come along instead of causing a scene", Kangmin stated sternly. Chan was still trying to subtly break free from the older, because his hand was starting to get clammy and on top of that, Kangmin's grip was really tight.

"I wasn't-", Chan tried to argue. "Whatever, just don't do it again!" Kangmin interrupted him.He had by no means tried to cause a scene. His boyfriend had simply caught him off guard by suddenly appearing at the library, practically kidnapping him and demanding to go out with him. 

"But-" Kangmin finally let go of his hand, only to face him. Chan took an instinctive step back when he saw how pissed he looked. "You know what, you're annoying today! I was just trying to do something nice for you and you don't even appreciate it. I'm not in the mood to eat with you anymore."

Chan felt his chest clench together painfully. That always happened when Kangmin decided to talk to him like he was a disobedient child or when he called him annoying or other equally as hurtful things. No matter how much he tried to explain himself in those kinds of situations, Kangmin would have none of it.

"I'm sorry...", he apologized. His boyfriend just gave him a cold look before turning around and walking off. "Where are you going?" Chan questioned, trying to keep up with him. "I'm going to have dinner."

"Wait, I'm coming with you...I'm really sorry, Kangmin. It won't happen again, I promise...", Chan called after him. This time, the older seemed to somewhat accept his apology. His steps slowed down, allowing Chan to catch up with him.

They didn't talk much more on the way and Chan found himself thinking about Minho again. He just hoped that this little incident hadn't scared him off. Chan had really enjoyed talking to the younger. He'd seemed so... _free_. Like he didn't care what anyone thought about him. Unfortunately, Chan didn't have many friends (or none, really) because most of them were too intimidated by Kangmin and his antics to stick around very long.

He just hoped that Minho would be different.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in three days. Damn, I hope I can keep the inspiration flowing.  
> (I shall not forget about I am NOT though!)

It had been one week since Minho had met Chan. He still couldn't wrap his head around his boyfriend's asshole-behavior. Why did Chan stay with him if was being treated like that? If Minho hadn't been interested in Chan before he'd even known about his sorry excuse of a boyfriend, he definitely was now. The whole incident had woken some kind of protectiveness in him.

After seeing the older being talked to like this, he had had to fight the urge to just step in front of him and shield him from Kangmin's intense stare and demanding personality. He couldn't help but ask himself if it had always been like this between the two of them. He hoped that it hadn't. He barely knew Chan, but he wanted the older to be happy. This relationship didn't seem to be doing the trick, though.

All Minho knew was that he wanted to grow closer to Chan at all cost. He'd enjoyed talking to him. Maybe he couldn't woo him the way he wanted (because even if his boyfriend was a prick, Minho wasn't a home-wrecker) but he would try to become a good friend to him, at least.

~

Minho headed home after dance practice, his mind still completely occupied with the curly-haired boy. Chan was cute... _really_ cute, even. Minho smiled to himself at the thought of him. Bumping into him at the library might have just been the best thing that had happened to him all semester.

He unlocked his front door and stepped inside, shedding his shoes and jacket. His first stop was the bathroom where he took a quick shower, before stepping back outside and drying off. He put on sweats and then made his way to the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water and went to the living room, sitting down on the couch and absent-mindedly turning on the TV. The dancer looked around the spacious room.

Maybe he should get a roommate. This place was too big for him alone and while the rent was no problem, he did feel a little bit lonely all by himself. His friends occasionally slept over, but that was about it. They all lived in the student dorms or already had roommates.

Minho didn't like being on his own, which is why he had formed a dance crew back in high school; to spend more time with his friends in his free time. He sighed and leaned back into his cushions. His thoughts wandered back to Chan once again. Minho knew he should probably get him out of his head, but it was hard to forget those gorgeous brown eyes, his goofy laugh and those cute dimples.

He usually didn't believe in love at first sight, but he was just about ready to reconsider.

~

Chan woke up alone. He sighed, looking around in the small apartment he shared with Kangmin. It didn't seem like his boyfriend had bothered to come home the previous night. Chan had waited up until around 3am, while working on some stuff for school, occasionally trying to call and text his boyfriend, only to be ignored.

He crawled out of bed and proceeded to get ready for the day; taking a shower, getting dressed and trying to tame the mess of brown curls on his head. The lock clicked open when Chan was in the middle of brushing his teeth. He quickly finished up before leaving the bathroom only to see Kangmin enter the apartment, looking completely unbothered.

"Hey...I waited for you to come home last night. I was worried...why didn't you call?" Chan questioned, effectively getting the older's attention. He gave him a smile. "I'm sorry", he said in a tone that didn't sound apologetic at all. "You know I was working late last night. My friend lives closer to the store, so I crashed there last night. I was exhausted when I got off work. Think about me for once, will you?"

Chan lowered his head, feeling bad instantly. "You're right, I'm sorry. I was just worried..." Kangmin flopped down on the couch, not answering. "Were you gonna make breakfast? I'd love some scrambled eggs", he said, instead. Chan wasn't much of a breakfast person, which Kangmin was well aware of, but the younger knew that it was just his way of asking him to do it. He'd gotten used to it, so he didn't mind anymore

"Sure, I was just about to make some...", Chan lied and headed to the kitchen. He got the last few eggs and some bacon out of the fridge before reaching for a pan in one of the top shelves of the tiny kitchen. He made the bacon first, while setting the table in the living room. Luckily, making bacon and eggs didn't take that long. Once everything was finished, he took it to the living room before heading back to the kitchen to get Kangmin a glass of orange juice.

Kangmin sat at the wobbly living room table when Chan came back, eyeing his breakfast a little disapprovingly. "Something wrong?" the younger asked. Kangmin looked at him. "I thought I said I wanted my eggs sunny side up", he told Chan, whose eyes widened. "No, you didn't! You said scrambled!" he argued.

Kangmin raised his eyebrow. "Pretty sure, I didn't." Chan wasn't sure what to say. He knew that Kangmin had asked for scrambled eggs. Besides, it didn't make a difference anyway. Eggs were eggs, at least to Chan. "Can you make new ones?" Kangmin questioned, pushing the plate away, like the thought of having to eat scrambled eggs disgusted him.

"We're out of eggs...", Chan answered in a small voice. His boyfriend clicked his tongue. "Great...", he said, rising from his seat. The older went to their shared bedroom without further words, closing the door behind himself with a little too much force. Chan flinched at the sound.

He looked at the abandoned plate of scrambled eggs and sat down on the chair Kangmin had occupied just a second ago. He was still sure that his boyfriend had told him to make scrambled eggs and a slight, stinging feeling of unfairness erupted in his gut, causing tears to well up in his eyes.

It was a ridiculous thing to cry about, but Chan couldn't really help it. Sometimes it just came over him, triggered by the smallest things; like a misunderstanding over breakfast. He didn't know why he couldn't be good enough for his boyfriend anymore. They used to be different together and he wasn't entirely sure what had changed. 

Maybe it was his fault.

Kangmin came out of the bedroom, causing Chan to quickly wipe at his eyes. The older didn't spare him a glance, though, instead just heading for the bathroom. A good minute later, the sound of running water filled the silence. Chan got up and packed his things, before heading out to the library, new tears continuing to run over his cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

Today was Saturday and Chan didn't have any classes, so he was planning to spend his entire day studying at the library. He also lowkey hoped to run into Minho again. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen him all week and he was still a little bit worried that he might not want to have anything to do with him anymore after he saw Kangmin in action last time.

Chan sat down at his usual table, trying to focus on his studies, but he caught himself looking around, hoping to see Minho just pop up somewhere from between the shelves. He needed the younger's positive energy and the refreshing conversations with him after the morning he had.

He was just about to give up hope when he saw a familiar mop of blonde hair as Minho walked through the door, causing Chan's face to lighten up instantly. The younger locked eyes with him, his lips stretching into a smile as he approached the table Chan sat at.

He tried to ignore how his heartbeat picked up the pace.

~

Minho hadn't expected to see Chan today, but he was more than delighted about it, especially when Chan's face lit up as if the sun had just risen all over again. However, Minho didn't miss the other's slightly reddened eyes; it was almost as if he'd been crying. Something had to be wrong. The protectiveness in Minho spoke up before he could stop himself.

"Hey, did something happen?" Chan's smile faltered. Without it, he looked more exhausted than he'd first let on. "It's nothing. I'm just...really stressed", he answered, avoiding Minho's eyes. The younger was dying to ask if it had something to do with his stupid boyfriend, but he chose to refrain from doing so. He didn't want to come across as too forward.

This was only the second time he'd spoken to Chan and he didn't want to ruin things with him. So, instead of asking more personal questions, he gently placed his hand on top of Chan's, making him look up again. "We could get that cup of coffee now, what do you say?" he offered.

Chan smiled returned a little and nodded, before proceeding to pack up his stuff. They began making their way to the campus café, luckily without being interrupted this time. On the way, Minho tried to cheer Chan up a little bit. He didn't like how quiet he was compared to last time. He managed to get a few smiles out of him, but that was it.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what happened?" Minho asked again, once they'd reached the café and placed their orders. Chan sighed. He didn't seem annoyed with Minho, though, which was a relief for the younger.

"It's just my boyfriend and I...we just had a misunderstanding this morning and, it was ridiculous, but it just upset me...", he finally admitted. Minho frowned. So, it really did have something to do with Kangmin. He grew to hate that guy more and more by the second.

The barista called their names and they went to fetch their coffee before sitting down at a table near the window. "If it upset you it's probably not ridiculous", Minho answered after taking the first sip of his coffee. He felt the caffeine energize him a little more, almost immediately.

"How long have you two been together again?" he questioned. "Six years..." "Hm, looks like it's time for a change", Minho said. He made it, so the words sounded joking, but he was more serious about it than he was willing to admit. Chan chuckled a little bit, so it was worth it nonetheless.

"Well, we've had our ups and downs...but recently...", he trailed off, looking out of the window absent-mindedly. Minho felt like it was best not to press him any further. "Sorry for being such a downer today", Chan suddenly apologized. Minho waved off. "Don't be sorry! Everybody has a bad day once in a while." _And with a douchebag boyfriend like yours, I understand why your mood might be a little down._

"I guess...but enough about me...what have you been up to all week?" the older questioned. Minho shrugged. "Mainly dance practice. My friends and I have a showcase coming up next weekend, so we're spending lots of time at the practice room", he replied. Chan perked up. "A showcase? That sounds really cool", he said, and Minho couldn't help but smile at his excitement.

"It is...dancing is my life, so I'm happy every time I get to show it to others", the blonde explained. Chan smiled. "You know...I realized that I never got your number...", Minho added, thinking back to their last conversation about dance. The older chuckled and pulled out his phone. "Very smooth", he commented, sliding his phone across the table for Minho to put his number in.

Once he'd finished doing so he clicked the call button before hanging up again and handing the phone back to Chan. He fished his own phone out of his pocket, quickly saving Chan's number, secretly adding a little heart after his name.

"Great, now you can text me whenever you miss me, instead of waiting for another coincidence", Minho stated with a wink, not missing the way Chan's cheeks turned a soft pink at his words. "Um...I-I mean...", the older trailed off.

Minho giggled in delight. Flustered Chan was definitely a sight worth seeing. "I'm playing, Channie", he stated, causing the other to flush even deeper at the nickname. Minho was glad to see that he seemed to have at least some kind of effect on Chan.

They finished their coffee before Minho had to head to the dance studio. He offered Chan to come along to watch, but the older declined (though, reluctantly) since he still had a project to finish. The dancer didn't really want to part ways with Chan already, but the others were waiting for him and at least he had his number now.

He decided to be bold today and bid his goodbyes to Chan with a hug. "Don't forget to text me. Get enough rest. I'll do a coffee run for you if your project stresses you out too much", he told him. Chan nodded, muttering a small "thanks", before taking off with a shy wave.

Minho stared after him for a while, realizing that he really didn't want him to go back to where his boyfriend was. He'd only spoken to Chan twice, but he was already head over heels for him.

Which meant that he was royally screwed...  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Chan came home in a fairly good mood. Granted, he was very stressed because of his stupid assignment and had decided to take the work from the library to the comfort of his living room. But his mood hadn’t dropped since he’d talked to Minho earlier today.

Kangmin was still at work, Chan figured as he spread his work on the coffee table, before heading to the kitchen and making himself some ramen. Food was the reason he’d come home in the first place. He made a mental note to go grocery shopping on Monday to avoid another egg situation when he checked the fridge to see if they still had any soda. They didn’t.

When Chan got back to the living room, he scanned over his work progress while slurping the noodles from his bowl. He wasn’t really satisfied with it, even though he’d tried really hard, but he simply wasn’t passionate enough about the whole business thing to give it his all.

Once he had finished his ramen, he took the bowl to the kitchen and washed it, mentally preparing for the work that was still ahead of him. He was good at focusing on his tasks (unless, he was in a library, hoping to coincidentally run into a gorgeous blonde dancer), so he figured that he’d most likely get everything on his agenda done before he could go to bed.

It was already 10pm and Chan was tired from working on this assignment all day, but he didn’t like to procrastinate, which is why he forced himself to stay awake and continue torturing himself with school work. He was almost glad that he was all alone, since he tended to be very quiet and distant when he was focusing and Kangmin sometimes took it a little too personally.

~

Chan stretched and checked his phone for the time. It was almost 1 in the morning and he’d gotten a huge migraine over the past few hours. His brain was beyond fried. He was just about to try calling his boyfriend when he heard the sound of keys rustling. The front door opened and Kangmin stepped inside, shedding his jacket, then proceeding to untie his shoes.

“Hey, how was work?” Chan questioned as he gathered his things. He was going to wash up quickly, too lazy and tired to take a full shower, before heading to bed. Kangmin looked tired as well. Chan knew how much he hated taking the late shifts at the 24/7 convenience store he worked at, plus the way from here to there wasn’t the shortest either.

“It was alright...I’m starving, though”, Kangmin answered, flopping down on the couch, placing his feet on the coffee table. He gave Chan a look. “Can you make some ramen for me?” he asked. Chan fidgeted uncomfortably. “I was actually just about to go to bed...”, he mumbled.

Kangmin sighed at the younger’s words, rolling his eyes. “Sure, go ahead...it’s just that I didn’t eat breakfast, as you know. Then I had a class this afternoon and went to work straight afterwards...but I’m sure I can handle cooking as well. Don’t let me stop you from going to sleep”, he said accusingly.

Chan felt a little pang of guilt in his chest as put his things back down on the table. Kangmin was the one who went to work to pay the rent for this place, so he supposed that making him food was the least he could do after a long day. He felt a little weird about it, though, after what had happened this morning. All he hoped for was that there wouldn’t be another misunderstanding.

“I guess you’re right...you should go and rest. I’ll make you something to eat...”, Chan gave in. Kangmin still seemed mad, though. He would apologize to him later. The younger was dead tired as he dragged himself to the kitchen and made another bowl of ramen. Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t mind cooking for his boyfriend, but it was different when his brain felt like it was trying to break through his skull.

Besides, since he didn’t feel hungry at all, due to having eaten a few hours prior, the thought of making food kind of felt repulsing to him. He went through with it anyways, since he didn’t want Kangmin to get mad at him again, or even worse, make him feel guiltier than he already did.

“Here you go...”, Chan said after finishing and filling the noodles into a bowl. Kangmin took them but still gave his boyfriend the silent treatment. The younger sat down next to him on the couch, his migraine only increasing by the minute. However, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he didn’t get this out of the way first.

“I’m sorry about earlier...I was just about to head to bed because I was stressed and tired. I didn’t mean to be insensitive...” Kangmin didn’t answer immediately. The silence was long enough for Chan to contemplate to just him sulk and finally go to sleep, after all.

He was just about to get up when his boyfriend spoke up: “I get that you’re stressed and everything, but it’s the same for me, you know? You should really be more supportive, considering I’m the one paying the rent.” Chan lowered his head, feeling even guiltier than before.

“I’m sorry...”, he repeated. Kangmin made a disapproving sound in the back of his throat. “You’ve been apologizing a lot recently”, he pointed out. “I feel like you should make it up to me. It’s been a while”, the older suggested.

Chan frowned, knowing where Kangmin was going with this. Recently, with school and work, in Kangmin’s case, they’d barely had any time for each other. And even if they did spend time together, it mostly ended up with Kangmin being mad at Chan for something.

His boyfriend placed the empty bowl on the coffee table and put his hand on Chan’s thigh. “I’m really tired, though...”, the younger said, trying to subtly get out of this without pissing him off even more. Kangmin leaned in closer to kiss him. “I’ll make it quick”, he mumbled against his lips. Chan fought the urge to sigh. He wasn’t in the mood at all, but he didn’t want to make Kangmin mad again. Besides, it really had been a while. Not that Chan had really found himself missing it...

“Alright...”, he finally gave in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll spare y'all the details, I’m already cringing enough...


	6. Chapter 6

“Come on! What's a party without my best friend?” Minho's best friend Han Jisung was currently pleading. “Jisung, I can't! I have a showcase coming up this Sunday. If I get drunk on Friday, I won't be able to perform well!” Minho replied with a roll of his eyes. Jisung pouted. “Well, don't get drunk, then!” he stated matter-of-factly. Minho raised an eyebrow. “Please...”, the younger pleaded again.

Minho let out a sigh. “Fine! I'll come...but I won't stay long!” he gave in, causing his best friend to jump in excitement. “Thanks, you're the best, I love you!” he all but yelled, pulling the older into a bone-crushing hug. The older snorted. “Yeah, right...”, he muttered. Though, he couldn't help but smile at him fondly. The two of them had been friends forever and he couldn't imagine his life without the energetic ball of sunshine that was Han Jisung.

“You can invite whoever you like”, the younger told him. Minho was about to ask who in the world he might invite, when Chan popped up in his mind. Surely, it wasn't wrong to invite a friend to another friend's party, right? He pulled out his phone, earning himself a curious look from Jisung, which he returned with a secretive smirk.

 

To: Channie♡  
From: Minho

_Hey, are you free this Friday?_

To: Minho   
From: Channie♡

_I wouldn’t say ‘free’ but I can always make time for you. Why?_

 

Minho couldn’t help but grin at the reply. He felt good knowing that he seemed to be special enough for Chan to make time for him. “Who are you texting?” Jisung questioned curiously. The older just giggled. “A friend”, he replied while typing. Jisung raised his eyebrows, which Minho didn’t see, of course.

“Liar! I’m a friend, Hyunjin’s a friend. But this person is definitely more than a friend to you!” Jisung pointed out accusingly. Well, he wasn’t wrong about that. Minho would have long since made a move on Chan if it wasn’t for Kangmin. Unfortunately, his friend knew him well enough to take his silence as a yes. “Is it a guy?” he asked with a wag of his eyebrows.

“Yes, it’s a guy! But we’re just friends for now”, Minho finally admitted, causing a shit-eating grin to spread on Jisung’s face. “He definitely has to come to the party then. I wanna see who got Lee Minho all giggly!” he demanded. Minho rolled his eyes playfully. “I’m getting there, okay?”

 

To: Channie♡  
From: Minho

_My best friend’s throwing a party and it’d be cool if we could hang out there_

To: Minho  
From: Channie♡

_Idk...I haven’t been to a party in a long time..._

To: Channie♡  
From: Minho

_Well it’s about time then!  
Pretty please? I’d really like to see you..._

 

Jisung was spying over his shoulder, Minho noticed. “Who’s Channie?” he questioned. Minho hid his phone. The younger laughed. “I never thought I’d live to see the day you’re this whipped for someone. This Channie guy must be some kind of god”, he pointed out. Minho grinned. “He is...”

~

Chan stared at Minho’s last message for a while. Minho would really like to see him? He couldn’t deny the fact that he would like to see him as well. The past few days since he’d seen him at the library had been really stressful. He finally finished his assignment, but Kangmin had figured that the two of them could use more time to  _connect_.

He let himself get talked into what Kangmin wanted, let it be visiting friends together, walking around the neighborhood or just staying in bed. He couldn’t decline because while it wore him out, he enjoyed the times when Kangmin wasn’t mad at him for something he did. Needless to say, Chan didn’t get nearly enough sleep. He wanted to just chill this weekend, but if he got an opportunity to see Minho...

 

To: Min♡  
From: Chan

_You’re lucky, you’re cute, Min.  
I’ll be there. Just text me the address_

 

His phone vibrated with an excited reply and the address of Minho’s friend before Chan put it away and headed to his next lecture. If he was honest, he couldn’t wait to see Minho again. He just hoped that Kangmin hadn’t already made plans for the two of them without telling him beforehand.

~

“I met some of our high school friends on my way home. They’re coming over to dinner on Friday”, Kangmin informed Chan right when the younger walked through the door the same evening. “I can’t on Friday...”, Chan replied absent-mindedly, taking off his shoes and making his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“What do you mean, you can’t?” he heard Kangmin’s voice shout after him from the living room. “I mean that I’m going to a friends’ party on Friday. I can’t cook dinner for your high school friends. We don’t really have anything else than ramen and a little bit of rice to cook anyway!” Chan called back.

He wasn’t sure who those “friends” were, but he sure knew that they weren’t his. Chan never had friends in high school. People only talked to him because he was dating Kangmin. He didn’t like them very much, and he felt like they never really accepted him either. That didn't bother him, though. He just didn't want to get involved in this little reunion the older had arranged without his knowledge. 

When he came back into the living room, he found his boyfriend sitting on the couch sulking. “I mean, you  _could_  go grocery shopping”, he muttered. Chan raised his eyebrows, feeling slightly pissed off at his behavior. “Me? I went last time...it’s your turn to go! Besides, I already told you that I have plans.”

“Is it that Minho guy’s party?” Kangmin questioned. Chan sighed. The older had made it more than obvious that he didn’t like Minho, at all. “No, but it’s his friend’s pa-” “So, he’s gonna be there”, he interrupted Chan. “Yes, most likely”, the younger answered. His boyfriend rose from the couch.

“I’m cancelling the dinner on Friday...”, he said. Chan furrowed his brows. It wasn’t like Kangmin to cave. He had already seen himself cooking for people who probably hated him because he was sure that the older would talk him into it. “Um...you are?” he questioned in an unsure tone of voice.

“Oh yeah, I am. Because I’ve decided that I’ll come with you. I haven’t been to a party in so long. It’s gonna be fun, don't you think?”  


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this last night at around 3am, so I'm sorry if there are any typos or weird sentences. I proof read it, but I'm a blind bish, so I might have not gotten everything lol

Chan felt heavily uncomfortable when he entered the unfamiliar house with Kangmin's hand on his lower back, like he was controlling him. He’d really been against the older coming along, but he couldn't exactly tell him that, knowing that Kangmin wouldn't react well.

So far, Chan hadn't spotted Minho anywhere, which was probably better as long as he wasn't alone. Kangmin seemed to have this certain hatred for Minho and he'd rather not have the two of them meet. “I should get us something to drink”, Chan shouted over the booming music that filled the entire room. Kangmin looked at him. “I'm coming with you. This place is packed”, he answered in the same volume.

They started to make their way to where they assumed the kitchen was. It wasn't hard for them to find the source of alcohol. Chan tried to subtly look out for Minho since he was the reason he even came here in the first place.

~

Chan wasn't sure how much he drank within the first hour at this party, but thanks to him being a lightweight he was drunk soon enough. At least, Kangmin wasn't following him around anymore. He'd lowkey managed to escape him through the mass of dancing people. Like Kangmin had said, this place was packed...

“Channie”, a soft, honey-like voice called out to him once he'd made it to a quieter, less crowded hallway. He turned around and saw Minho approach him, his hair no longer blonde but a pretty chocolate brown. Chan found himself reaching out and touching it before he could stop himself.

Minho grinned. “You like my new hair?” he asked. Chan nodded, feeling slightly shaky on his legs. He stumbled a little, causing the younger to steady him by grabbing his arms. “Whoa, hey there! Are you drunk?” Minho questioned. Chan clung to him and giggled. “Just a little bit”, he answered. The younger chuckled fondly. “I feel kinda dizzy...”, Chan muttered.

“Okay, let's get you outside...you look like you could use some fresh air”, he said and began to lead Chan towards what looked like the back door. Chan was mildly aware of Minho's steadying, strong arm around his waist.

“My boyfriend's gonna get mad if he doesn't know where I am...”, he slurred. Minho clicked his tongue. “You're not his dog. He can have fun on his own”, he argued, leading Chan outside into a spacious garden. It was mostly empty except for a guy that seemed to be asleep under a cherry tree.

Minho sat Chan down on a wooden bench, carefully letting go of him once he made sure that he wasn’t going to fall over or something. The older was actually grateful to Minho for bringing him here, hopefully further away from Kangmin, at least for a little while. He felt guilty for having those thoughts, but for now he enjoyed being close to Minho.

He rested his head on Minho's shoulder, letting out a sigh. “I've missed you...”, he muttered. Minho smiled. “You're cute when you're drunk”, he pointed out. Chan lifted his head again to look at him, pouting. “No, I'm not”, he replied. Minho laughed. “Yes, you are”, he argued playfully.

“But then again, you're always cute”, the dancer added, eyes practically glued to the other's pouty lips, while gradually leaning closer. Chan's breath hitched at their sudden proximity. His head felt a little bit clearer thanks to the fresh air and technically, both his mind and his heart should have told him to back away from this.

But instead, his mind and his heart both encouraged him to meet Minho halfway, so that's just what he did. The younger's lips tasted like candy, mixing with the taste of alcohol on Chan’s own, which for some reason, wasn't unpleasant at all. He felt Minho's soft, warm hand on his cheek as he scooted even closer to Chan, never breaking the kiss.

His tongue grazed along Chan’s bottom lip, asking for entrance, which he got almost immediately. The older let Minho take control over the kiss. He shifted, so he was almost sitting in the dancer’s lap, his fingers playing with the hair on the back of his head. It had been a long time since he'd felt this tingly when kissing someone. He couldn't describe it, but it made his heart race more than any of Kangmin's kisses.

_Kangmin!_

Chan pulled back reluctantly, trying to catch his breath which was coming out in heavy puffs. “I can't...”, he managed to say, bringing a little distance between the two of them. Minho seemed shocked at his own actions. “I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done that. I'll leave.” The younger got up but Chan held him back by the wrist.

“Please don't! I don't want to be alone...”, he pleaded.

Minho looked at him. Of course, he couldn't just leave him here. He was still drunk, and he probably didn't know anyone except him and Kangmin, his douchebag boyfriend. “Alright...I'll stay”, he gave in, sitting back down next to Chan. He really wanted to kiss him again, but he respected his relationship – for Chan’s sake, not Kangmin’s.

“I’m sorry if I made things weird...”, Minho apologized in a small voice. Chan shook his head. “Don’t worry about it...it’s not that I didn’t want this...I just can’t. I’m with Kangmin”, he explained. The younger nodded, his face turning a little bitter at the mention of Chan’s boyfriend. Though, he took a little bit of pride in the fact that Chan had just admitted that he’d also wanted to kiss him.

“There you are!” Kangmin’s voice suddenly boomed through the night and Chan spun around on the bench, which seemed to make him more dizzy judging by the way he held his head right after. His boyfriend was approaching them, looking anything but happy.

“I’ve looked everywhere for you and you’re hanging around with this dude?” he yelled. Minho got up and in between Chan and his raging boyfriend. “Come on, man. He’s drunk, I was just trying to help him!” he spoke up. Kangmin glared at him, roughly pushing him aside. “Back off,  _man_! I really can’t fucking stand you!” he snapped at Minho.

Now, Minho didn’t like getting pushed around. He hated it, to be exact. Since he also hated Kangmin, his anger was quickly bubbling up inside of him. He pushed the other male back just as roughly. “The feeling’s mutual”, he spat. Kangmin looked like he was about to punch him, and he was ready for it.

“Stop it, please...”, Chan suddenly spoke up. He really didn’t look too well. Before Minho could dwell on it any longer, though, he was pushed aside again. Kangmin strode over to his boyfriend and pulled him up, rather roughly. “We’re going home”, he announced.

“Let go of me, I feel dizzy”, Chan protested. “Shut up, you got yourself into this”, Kangmin shut him down. Minho clenched his fists, ready to beat the shit out of him. “Don’t talk to him like that!” he burst out. Kangmin faced him, raising an eyebrow. “The way I talk to my boyfriend is none of your business!”

He turned around and left Minho standing there, dragging a still weakly protesting Chan along. Minho followed him into the crowded house; he didn’t want Chan to get treated like this (and maybe he just really wanted to punch Kangmin in the face). As soon as he entered the house, though, he was pulled aside by some people he hardly knew and practically squeezed between them as they danced to the music that was blasting through the whole house.

By the time, Minho managed to break free Chan and Kangmin were nowhere to be seen. They really must have left. He sighed in resignation and fought his way to the kitchen where things were a little less crowded.

“Hey Jisung...”, he said when he found his friend leaning against the kitchen counter with a cup in his hands. Jisung gave him a half smile, that didn’t look sincere at all. “Hey...”, he muttered. Minho furrowed his brows at the short response. “What’s wrong?” he questioned, pushing his worry about Chan to the back of his head for a second.

“Nothing...”, the younger obviously lied. Minho put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look. “You know I can tell when you’re lying to me, right?” he asked gently. “Is it about a guy? Or a girl maybe?” Jisung didn’t reply but instead just pulled his best friend into a hug. Now, Minho was really worried. He and Jisung had always been affectionate and touchy with each other, but given the circumstances, the younger’s sudden hug made him really suspicious.

Instead of asking him about it, he just patted Jisung’s back, hoping that it would make him feel better. Eventually, the younger pulled out of their hug and downed his entire cup, before reaching for a bottle to refill it. Minho grabbed his wrist before he could.

“Whatever it is that’s upsetting you, drinking won’t make it better”, he told the younger. “Come on, we can shut this party down and you can stay at my place tonight, okay?” he offered. Jisung nodded silently. Minho just hoped that he could make him feel better once they were in a more quiet and comfortable place.

Whoever hurt Han Jisung better watch out.


	8. Chapter 8

“I can’t believe you ran off to get drunk with this Minho guy!” Kangmin currently yelled at Chan. They had reached their apartment and Chan was sitting on their bed, feeling dizzy. His mouth was dry, and he would kill for a glass of water right now. But Kangmin wasn’t done ranting yet. His yelling gave Chan a huge headache, but the older wouldn’t even let him speak long enough to point that out.

“I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you lately! Ever since you met this guy, you’ve been acting up!” There it was again. Kangmin once again just treated Chan like he was a disobedient teenager. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that you’re into him!” The younger's eyes widened at the accusation.

“N-no, of course n-” “Good, because if it turns out that you’re cheating on me with that guy – or  _any_  guy for that matter – I’ll kill you!” Kangmin growled. Chan may be drunk, but he didn’t fail to catch the dangerous glint in his boyfriend’s angry eyes. It was like he meant it.

“I’m not into him...”, Chan muttered. “I’m sorry for getting so drunk...”, he apologized. Kangmin stood up straight. “I’ll sleep at a friends’ place tonight. I can’t stand you right now...” With that the older turned around and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the front door shut behind himself.

Chan lay down sideways on the bed, once again feeling tears welling up in his eyes. A million questions popped up in his head. Why was he even still with Kangmin? Was it because he was familiar with him; because they’d been together for so long? Did he even still love him? He felt like at least a part of him did.

And what about Minho?

He thought about their kiss. It had been like no other kiss Chan had ever experienced. He found himself comparing Minho’s soft, gentle lips to Kangmin’s rough and sometimes even forceful ones. Minho made sure that he was alright with it while Kangmin only chased after his own pleasure.

Chan let out an involuntary sob. His feelings were in a turmoil. On one hand, despite everything, he still had some kind of love left for Kangmin. He’d known him all his life and a bad phase in their relationship couldn’t kill it that easily, right? On the other hand, he felt so good when he was with Minho. He could tell him anything without the fear of him getting mad or him making Chan feel bad about himself.

He didn’t know what to do. His head still spun, and his mouth was still so dry, but he was just downright tired. Eventually, he fell asleep still fully dressed and occasionally sniffling, with his confused thoughts following him into his dreams.

~

Jisung didn’t really want to open up to Minho when they got to his place. All the older was able to figure out was that it seemed to be about a guy. Jisung withheld any further information about said guy or their relationship status, though. Usually, Minho would be upset that his best friend was keeping secrets from him, but he just looked so sad, sitting on the couch, hugging his knees to his chest, that he couldn’t bring himself to press it further.

“Did you get to see that guy you like?” Jisung asked him after a long silence in which Minho tried to figure out how to deal with his friend’s pain. “I did...”, he replied. Jisung looked at him, like that wasn’t the answer he wanted. Minho smiled faintly at the memory of their kiss. Then he remembered the way Kangmin had dragged Chan away and the smile faded again.

“I kissed him today. I really like him a lot...but there’s a problem...”, Minho told his best friend. Jisung tilted his head in question. “He kind of has a boyfriend”, he admitted. The younger’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding!” Jisung exclaimed. As much as Minho liked finally being able to distract him from whatever had upset him, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go too much into detail.

“Minho...this is dangerous. If the dude has a boyfriend you should lay off”, Jisung advised him. Minho looked at his own knees. “I know...I know, I should just let it go. But I can’t...he’s incredible. And his boyfriend is a total douchebag. I’ve been holding back but tonight I just couldn’t resist...”, he said. “Man, you’re in love”, his younger friend stated.

“I think I really am...”

~

The two of them spent the rest of the night watching TV together and talking about the most random things before finally falling asleep. Jisung seemed a little less sad than before and Minho intended to make the rest of his sadness go away by cuddling his best friend in his sleep.

He woke up first the next morning. It was only 8am, meaning he still had a good two hours before he had to head to practice. He got out of bed carefully, making sure that Jisung was properly covered by the blanket and went to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

When he was finished he took his mug and sat down on the couch, looking at his phone. He contemplated whether to text Chan. In the end, he decided that he should. Just to check on him...

 

To: Channie♡  
From: Minho

_Good morning! I’m sorry about last night... I hope you’re okay?_

His finger hovered over the send button for a while, unsure if he should really do it. What if for some reason Chan didn’t want to hear from him? “Don’t be a pussy...”, he quietly scolded himself before sending the message.

~

Chan woke up to the vibrations of his phone. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Kangmin didn’t seem to have come back after storming out of the apartment the previous night. Chan picked his phone up, secretly hoping that the person who texted him wasn’t his boyfriend.

His face lit up when he saw that it had been Minho who texted him. He felt warm inside, knowing that he worried about him enough to text him first thing in the morning. The question was how to reply? He could hardly tell him that he actually wasn’t all that okay, considering Kangmin had yelled at him and even threatened him.

 

To: Min♡  
From: Chan

_I’m alright. Don’t worry about me~_

He didn’t want Minho to feel guilty about Kangmin’s behavior  _or_  the kiss for that matter. The younger had initiated it, but Chan had wanted it just as much as he did. Before he got another reply from Minho, his phone lit up with a call – this time it really was Kangmin. Chan picked up reluctantly, hoping that his boyfriend wasn’t as mad as he had been last night.

“I hope you’ve slept it off”, Kangmin said right away without any word of greeting. “We’re visiting my parents today. Pack a bag for us. I’ll come pick you up in an hour”, he continued. Chan frowned. The older had once again just made plans for him without even giving him a heads up, even though, he knew how much his boyfriend disliked it. 

“I can’t. I have school work to do, Kangmin”, he argued. The older huffed. “You’re gonna spend your day at the library with that guy again, am I right?” he asked in exasperation. Chan raised one of his eyebrows. He had planned on studying at home today, but something in Kangmin’s tone made him want to lie and say yes. He decided he was feeling petty today.

“Yes, in fact. He needs help with something business-related”, he lied. Kangmin huffed again. “Fine, since this guy seems to be more important to you that your  _boyfriend_...I guess I have to go by myself. I'll just have to get used to you being distant with me...”

Chan began to feel guilty at the older’s words. He was about ready to cave again, when he got a notification. He put Kangmin on speaker and checked his new text. It was from Minho, as expected.

 

To: Chan  
From: Min♡

_Would you by any chance like to hang out at my place today? I have my last practice today and I tend to get nervous before showcases, so I could use some company. I’ll even cook dinner for you~_

Chan smiled at the message. Kangmin cleared his throat on the other side of the line. The younger’s message somehow drowned out the guilt he’d just felt. “Sorry, babe. Be careful when you’re driving. Yesterday’s weather forecast said something about heavy rain”, he told his boyfriend before hanging up.

He felt like he’d just gotten off a roller coaster. His heart was racing like crazy. He’d never hung up on Kangmin before, not after denying him what he wanted. It took him a few seconds to calm down.

 

To: Min♡  
From: Chan

_Sure, I’d love that. Can I watch you practice? That’s what I gave you my number for in the first place :P_

To: Chan  
From: Min♡

_Yeah, if you want!  
Do you want me to come pick you up?_

To: Min♡  
From: Chan

_That would be great_

To: Chan   
From: Min♡

_I’ll see you in about half an hour, then_

Chan quickly got out of bed to take a shower and get ready. He couldn’t shake the giddy feeling throughout his whole routine. Even though, he was a bit scared of what Kangmin might say when he returned from his parents’ he was looking forward to spending more time with Minho. If he was honest, he couldn’t wait to see him dance, since he seemed to be very good at it, considering he was a dance major.

He wasn’t going to let anybody ruin his day.


	9. Chapter 9

Jisung decided not to come along to dance practice. Minho didn't question it further. He knew when to leave Jisung alone and this was definitely one of those times, though the younger's secretiveness still bugged him.

Minho went to pick up Chan after getting ready in lightning-speed. He was really looking forward to seeing him again, even though it had technically only been a few hours. He just hoped that today Kangmin would leave Chan alone. Minho's blood still boiled with anger when he thought about the way Kangmin always controlled the older.

Chan had texted him his address and Minho came to a stop in front of the rundown apartment complex. He didn't have to wait long before the older came outside, dressed casually in a gray sweater and black jeans, his hair the usual cute curly mess. Minho had to stop himself from staring. Chan looked effortlessly good.

The older smiled at him after getting into the car. They exchanged sort of shy greetings before Minho took off towards the dance studio. The sky looked like rain, so Minho was glad that he didn't walk today like he usually would. He occasionally sneaked a few side-glances at Chan who was looking out of the window absent-mindedly.

The drive to the dance studio wasn't long and passed with light conversation between the two of them. Chan seemed to be kind of excited about getting to watch practice, which made Minho promise himself to give it all he got today, in order to impress the older.

When they arrived, Minho saw Hyunjin and Felix, the other two members of his team, already warming up. They gave Chan a curious look. "Guys, this is my friend Chan, he's going to watch us practice today, if you don't mind", Minho said. "Channie, these are my friends and teammates Hyunjin and Felix", pointing his friends out to him. They both greeted Chan, though Minho noticed that Hyunjin seemed a little off. He'd ask him about it later.

"Hyunjin's one of my high school friends and Felix here from Australia to study abroad last year", Minho filled Chan in. The older's eyes lit up. "Really? I'm from Australia, too!" he exclaimed. Felix' eyes widened and from that point onwards it turned into a full-blown English conversation that Minho didn't even try to understand.

Instead, he decided to take Hyunjin aside, who hadn't said a word since greeting Chan. "Are you alright?" he questioned. The younger nodded, not looking Minho in the eyes, though. He'd known Hyunjin almost as long as he'd known Jisung, so it didn't take very much for him to know that he was lying.

"What's wrong. First Jisung's down and now you...too...wait a minute." Realization dawned on him. "You're the guy who made Jisung sad, aren't you?" he questioned. Hyunjin looked at him with a guilty expression. "I didn't mean to...", he muttered. Minho crossed his arms over his chest and raised an expectant eyebrow.

"You better explain. If you weren't you, I would have already punched you in the face about twenty seconds ago!" Hyunjin looked down at his feet, taking a few seconds to answer. Minho couldn't imagine what on earth could have happened between the two of them, that caused both of them to be like this. Usually, if they had a fight, they'd at least talk about it to Minho.

There had to be more...

"Yesterday, at the party, there was this seven minutes in heaven game going on upstairs...Jisung and I had ours together", Hyunjin started. Minho raised his other eyebrow as well, silently urging the younger to go on. "We...well, we kinda made out and Jisung...kind of told me that he was in love with me...", Hyunjin finally admitted.

Minho's eyes widened at the revelation. He sure hadn't expected that! Jisung? In love with Hyunjin? "And you rejected him?" he questioned. Hyunjin shook his head. "Not exactly...I panicked, I was confused. I didn't want to make things awkward between us, so I just said that I was sorry and...", he trailed off. "I bolted..."

A minute-long silence followed, in which Minho tried to process the information he had just gathered. Then he looked at Hyunjin again. "So, Jisung confesses to you and you run away...talk about not wanting to make things awkward", he pointed out. The younger deflated like a balloon. "I know it was dumb."

"He went home all sad this morning, so you better make it up to him! If you don't return his feelings, at least let him down gently...", Minho advised him, giving him a pointed look. Hyunjin looked like he was about to say something, but Felix walked over to them with Chan in tow, cutting their conversation short.

"Where did you hide him for so long? We're literally from the same city", the youngest in the room exclaimed happily. Chan chuckled in amusement at Felix' excitement. "Well, now you've met him", Minho said, patting Felix' shoulder, before turning to Chan. "You never mentioned being Australian", he added in mock-accusation. The older grinned at him. "You never asked", he teased him.

~

Dance practice began shortly after and Chan sat on a couch that stood in the far back of the room just watching the three of them practice their routine for the showcase. Or rather, he watched Minho. Even if he tried, he couldn't take his eyes off him. His movements looked so effortless and graceful, Chan could tell that he'd been doing this all his life.

He knew that he was staring, and he knew that if Minho looked at him through the mirror, he'd catch him doing so. But he couldn't bring himself to care or look away. It was like Minho had him under a spell, as cliché as it might sound.

The trio decided to take a break after about two hours and Chan was grateful as he needed one as well. Minho walked over to where Chan sat, getting a towel out of his bag and putting it around his neck before grabbing a water bottle and taking a few generous sips from it.

"You like what you see so far?" he asked Chan, who looked at him like a deer in the headlights. Had he really been caught? "Huh?" he asked. Minho chuckled. "The dance. How do you like it?" he rephrased his question. The older let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. It was just about the dance.

"Oh, the dance, yeah...it's amazing. Did you choreograph it on your own?" he asked. Minho grinned and nodded, looking proud. "It's really good", Chan assured him. "You'll do really well at the showcase." The dancer looked like he got an idea as he put his water bottle down.

"Why don't you come watch us tomorrow?" he suggested. Chan wanted to, he really did. But he had so much school work to do, since he'd decided to hang out with Minho today instead of doing that. "I don't know if I can...but I'll try to make it. When is it?" Chan asked.

"It's 6pm", Minho replied. Chan figured that he might be able to make it, if he crammed in enough study time before that. He gave Minho a smile. "I'll try my best to be there...", he said. That seemed enough for the younger. "Perfect. If you get bored watching us, just tell me and I'll take you home or something", he told Chan. "Are you kidding? I could watch you guys all day!"

He could watch Minho all day. 

"Besides, you promised me dinner", he reminded the younger who just grinnned. "Right, I did." 

~

Hyunjin was the first one out the door when practice ended a while later. According to Minho, he had to sort out something with a friend. Felix got picked up by his boyfriend, Changbin, who Minho said was a music major, which made Chan only the slightest bit envious.

"So, your friend who threw the party yesterday. Does he live in that big place all alone?" Chan questioned when they were on the way to Minho's place where he would be getting the dinner he was promised. It had started raining pretty heavily since this morning. The dancer shook his head at Chan's question. "Nah, he has housemates. But they're barely ever there", he explained.

"I often visit him along with Hyunjin. None of us likes being alone, so we try to spend as much time together as college allows us", he added. Chan nodded slowly. He couldn't really relate, since he didn't have any friends. "Why don't you move in together? You live alone, don't you?" he asked.

"We can't move in together. Jisung's parents pay for his place in that house and they're very stubborn about him staying there. They're also not particularly fond of me", Minho explained. The older furrowed his brows in question, which Minho couldn't see since he was focusing on the road. "Why not? You're great."

The dancer laughed at the statement. "Thank you, Channie, you flatter me", he replied, giving the older a short, playful side-look. Chan felt himself blush at his own forwardness. _'You're great?'_ Way to go, idiot. He looked at Minho again, noticing how his features had gotten more serious before he spoke up again:

"When I turned 18 and just got my license, I took Jisung to school and we got into an accident. It wasn't my fault, the other guy ran a red light, but Jisung got hurt. Not very badly, just a broken leg, but it was enough for his parents to never forgive me. I haven't either...that's why I'm extremely protective of him. I don't ever want him to get hurt again, physically or emotionally..."

Chan couldn't deny that he was a little surprised at the story. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over it. If the accident wasn't your fault and Jisung is fine...then you should let go of the guilt", he advised Minho, hoping that he wasn't overstepping. The younger smiled faintly. "I know...and I might, eventually. But it's hard."

The rest of the ride passed rather quietly, with soft music playing on the radio, as the rain came down in buckets. Chan thought about what Minho had told him. He found it endearing how much he cared about his friend.

At this point, he knew that he was falling for Minho, if he hadn't already. He just didn't know if his brain lacked the strength or the willpower to stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to go for some side Hyunsung because the world needs more of this ship...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the Hyunsung chapter nobody asked for lol  
> Don't worry next chapter is gonna be minchan again, I just figured a little side ship couldn't hurt haha
> 
> On a different note: Thank you so much for over 1k hits and 100 kudos! You guys are amazing!!!

Jisung had planned on staying in bed all day; he’d turned his phone off and locked the door to his room, just drowning in his own thoughts. They weren’t very nice thoughts, though. Most of them were about how stupid he was. How could he just confess to Hyunjin out of nowhere?

His feelings for the older had been a well-kept secret since high school and one stupid game of seven minutes in heaven had ruined an almost life-long friendship, just like that. Jisung wanted to repeatedly smash his head against the wall. How the hell was he supposed to ever look at Hyunjin again?

He couldn’t even tell Minho about it, because he saw Hyunjin every day, due to the two of them being on the same dance team, and it would just make things more awkward. The older was always so worried about him anyways; no need to make things worse.

The doorbell rang, ripping him out of his self-pitying thoughts. Jisung was home alone because his housemates were either at the library or out with their stoner friends getting high at the park nearby. He didn’t feel like opening the door because that would mean he'd have to talk to whoever it was. He cursed himself for not turning the doorbell off as well.

The visitor seemed to be very persistent, though, constantly ringing the doorbell, and Jisung contemplated going downstairs to yell at them to go the fuck away. However, he decided against it and chose to keep ignoring them. Whoever was down at the door didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of his awful mood. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, ready to drown out the world again when-

_“Jisung!”_

His eyes shot open at the voice getting carried through his tilted window. Jisung scrambled out of bed to look outside. “Oh no...”, he muttered at the sight of Hyunjin standing there, looking up, straight back at him. “Can you open the door, please? I want to talk”, the older shouted.

“I don’t”, Jisung called back, slamming his window shut before burying himself under his blankets, praying for Hyunjin to just go away and save him further embarrassment. Unfortunately, Hyunjin was nothing if not persistent. The younger almost fell out of his bed when someone suddenly knocked on his door about a minute later.

“Jisung, please open the door...”, Hyunjin’s soft voice came through his door, sounding muffled. “How did you get in here?” Jisung yelled back. “I found the spare key”, Hyunjin said. The younger sighed, once again cursing himself for also forgetting about the damn spare key, and got out of bed again, hesitating to unlock his door.

“You really can’t take a hint. I don’t want to talk to you, Hyunjin! Can’t you just leave me alone?” Jisung snapped. He wasn’t sure if he could take a verbal rejection from Hyunjin to add to him running away after his confession. “No”, was the older’s simple answer. Jisung sighed again and finally unlocked his door.

Hyunjin stood there, looking gorgeous as ever, in his black sweats and equally as black hoodie. Jisung liked the way his hair was slowly growing out, causing his raven bangs to fall into his eyes. He turned away and walked back over to his bed, silently granting Hyunjin entrance. He stayed like this, with his back facing the older, not wanting to look at him any longer than he had to out of fear to get caught staring for too long.

“About last night...”, Hyunjin began. Jisung crossed his arms over his chest defensively, still not ready to face the older. “I don’t want to talk about it”, he muttered. He practically felt Hyunjin come closer to him. “I’m sorry for running away”, he apologized. Jisung didn’t answer, he didn’t know what to say to that.

Hyunjin was now standing right behind him, placing a careful hand on Jisung’s shoulder. “Look at me?” It came out as a question rather than a demand. The younger slowly turned around and looked up at him. “Did you mean what you said to me?” Hyunjin asked carefully, like he was afraid of the answer.

Jisung scoffed humorlessly. “Do you think I’d be ruining our friendship if I didn’t mean it?” Hyunjin’s eyes widened the slightest bit. “You’re not ruining anything! It was just extremely sudden, and I thought you were just drunk when you told me. I didn’t know you had feelings for me”, he told the younger. Jisung lowered his head, trying to hide the blush that spread on his cheeks.

This conversation was just plain weird to him. He never would have thought that he would ever have to have it with Hyunjin in the first place. “Hyunjin, I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. Just forget I ever said anything. I get it, you don’t like me back and you don’t have to. I just need time, okay?” he burst out, turning away from the older again.

He hoped that Hyunjin would finally leave and give him space. He’d possibly made the biggest mistake of his life by even going into that closet with him in the first place. If it hadn’t been for the alcohol and the making out (he still wasn’t sure how that had even happened), his tipsy, dumbass self never would have gotten into this messed up situation and they could at least still be friends.

“I do like you back, though”, Hyunjin said after a few seconds of silence that seemed way longer to Jisung, who spun around at the older’s reply. “Don’t do this! I don’t need you to pity me!” “I’m not pitying you! Are you listening to me? I said I like you back”, Hyunjin retorted. Jisung couldn’t allow himself to believe it, it was too good to be true. It had to be.

“Are you sure about that, though? Because maybe you’re just confused because I confessed to you and maybe a part of you just feels like you  _have_  to like me back to protect our friendship and then we start dating, but you realize that you actually only like me as a friend and we break up again and things get awkward and-”

Jisung’s wild rambling got cut off when Hyunjin took a confident step forward, cupped his cheeks and just pressed their lips together, effectively shutting him up. Before yesterday, the younger had spent years trying to imagine what kissing Hyunjin might be like – he’d stared at his lips long and often enough to have no trouble spurring his imagination.

Actually kissing Hyunjin, without being under the influence of alcohol and cramped into a tiny closet was beyond Jisung’s imagination, though. Hyunjin’s lips moved against his with a somewhat practiced ease, making the younger weak in the knees. It had taken Jisung a few seconds to react and kiss him back, but he did, once he got over his initial shock, his hands now clawing into the other’s hoodie.

They pulled apart once the need for air kicked in and Jisung had to resist the urge to pinch himself. “I’m sure about it”, Hyunjin told him, slightly out of breath but his voice barely above a whisper as their faces were still only inches apart. “Do you believe me now, or should I kiss you again?” he asked.

Jisung didn’t reply and instead just closed the distance between them, reconnecting their lips, snaking his arms around the older’s neck while Hyunjin pulled him closer by the waist. Damn, Jisung thought, he could get used to this.

They pulled back again after a while. “Now, I believe you”, the younger mumbled, making Hyunjin grin widely. “Good because if that didn’t convince you I don’t know what will...”, he answered. Jisung chuckled, arms still around Hyunjin’s neck, now finally daring to properly look at him, fully taking in his kiss-swollen lips and those godly features.

“I did lots of thinking yesterday...I’ve actually liked you for a pretty long time. I just never had the guts to tell you. And I want to be with you, Jisung. Exclusively...”, Hyunjin said. It was very rare for the older to get shy, but there was a cute little blush spreading on his cheeks as he spoke.

And Jisung? He still wanted to pinch himself. Hyunjin wanted to be with him, as his  _boyfriend_. 17-year-old Jisung probably wouldn’t dare to believe him if he travelled back in time and told him about this exact moment on this exact day.

“I want to be with you, too”, he answered, a giddy smile spreading on his face. Hyunjin simply leaned in to kiss him once again and Jisung figured that he could  _really_ get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, yeah...I'm bad with writing kisses n shit (I often let my sister write them, but I'm doing this fic on my own so I hope you didn't hate it)  
> Hyunsung make me soft lately, so I had to include them as a side ship, though I'm usually a Seungjin person. I hope you guys didn't mind this little side chapter too much.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently! I wasn't really feeling this fic and I've been focusing on the one shot series. But, here I am with a new update! It's not the best one, but I hope you'll like it anyway...

By the time Chan and Minho reached the younger’s apartment, the rain had become almost torrential. Chan shed his sweater as soon as he was inside the building, thankfully wearing a somewhat dry, black t-shirt underneath. Unfortunately, he missed Minho’s subtle glance at his exposed arms.

He told Chan to make himself at home, right after they’d both slipped off their shoes, then excused himself to his room to get a set of fresh clothes. The older looked around in the spacious apartment. The living room had a soft-looking couch and an armchair standing across from a big flat-screen TV. A wooden coffee table stood in the middle.

The kitchen was on the opposite side of the hallway, across from the living room. It was rather small, but really cozy. He didn’t want to invade Minho’s privacy by looking into any other rooms, so he just sat down in the living room – the couch was, indeed, very soft – and waited for his return.

Chan noticed how tidy the place was. He always tried to keep his own place as clean as possible, but with how tired he always was after a long day of studying and a boyfriend who made more of a mess than he could clean up he wasn’t really doing the best job.

Minho came back a short while later with a towel wrapped around his neck, tossing another one over to Chan. The older took it gratefully, since his hair had suffered the most from the rain.

“I’ll get dinner started right now, if you want”, he offered. Chan grinned and nodded. “That would be awesome”, he answered. Minho gave him a little smile before heading to the kitchen. The older sat there for a while, twiddling his thumbs. He felt useless, just hanging around here and letting Minho do all the work, so he got up after about five minutes and joined him.

“Do you need help with anything?” Chan questioned. “Sure, you could...cut the vegetables?” Minho replied. The older chuckled and saluted jokingly, before getting to work.

~

They cooked and ate together – Minho’s cooking skills were outstanding, by the way – before settling down on the younger’s couch talking about stuff.

“You know, it fit wasn’t for you I’d be at my boyfriend’s parents place right now, so thanks”, Chan suddenly said. Minho tilted his head in confusion. “Do they not like you?” he asked.

“Quite the opposite. They adore me...they’re trying to  _‘subtly’_  push us into getting married...it’s really uncomfortable most of the time”, Chan said. “Getting married is so not on my list right now”, he added. “Good”, Minho said before he could stop himself. The older gave him a questioning look.

“I-I mean...you’re still young and in the middle of your studies. Getting married really doesn’t seem like the best idea...”, Minho quickly explained himself. Chan chuckled. “Right...”

“What are your parents like?” the older switched subjects. Minho’s face lit up. “They’re the most amazing people I know. My Dad is a painter and my Mom is a dancer like me. She taught me all the basics when I was young and she always helped me whenever I struggled with something. Then again, living in an artist family can be kind of hard sometimes. But it’s still great...”, Minho said. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling...”, he added when he noticed how carried away he’d gotten. Chan just sat there, watching the other talk with a fond expression on his face. He could only imagine what it must be like to constantly be surrounded by other artists.

“That’s okay, I asked, after all...”, he told Minho. “What about your parents, though, Channie?” The older made a face. “My parents are both teachers...my father teaches math and physics...and my mother teaches economics and also math. They weren’t too happy when they realized that my math skills were only average. I tried to tell them that I want to make music and, uh...they...they laughed at me...”

Minho’s eyes widened in surprise. “Channie, that’s awful”, he said, putting his hand on top of the older’s, who just shrugged. “Well, it’s not like they don’t have a point”, Chan replied. “They told me that business is a safer way to not end up homeless. Kangmin agrees...”, he explained.

“Well, that’s bullshit! I don’t know what kind of music you make, but I’m sure you’re talented. Your parents and your  _boyfriend_ should encourage you instead of bringing you down...”, Minho argued.

“I know...but I mean I can’t just go behind their back with this...”, Chan told him. Minho nodded. “I understand that...but in the end your life is your own. Nobody can tell you what to do; not your parents, not Kangmin, not me...”

Chan thought about it. He knew that Minho was right, just like had been back when they first met...

“Anyway...”, Minho spoke up again after a short while of silence. “I have pudding in the fridge. You want some?” he asked, changing the subject. Chan laughed at the randomness of the question as he checked the time on his phone. “I don’t know. I should probably get home soon. It’s getting pretty late...”, he said.

Minho looked in the direction of the living room window. The weather was still just as bad as two hours ago. “How are you getting home?” he asked. “I’m walking”, Chan replied. Minho gave him an exasperated look. “In this weather? You’ll get sick! Let me drive you”, he offered. Chan wanted to tell him that he was fine and that he shouldn’t go out of his way for him, but the look of Minho’s face, the genuine worry that he might really get sick, made him give in and nod in agreement.

Minho smiled his beautiful smile again as he got up from the couch. “Great, then let’s go after eating pudding!” he said cheerfully. Chan chuckled fondly. “Alright. Let’s go after eating pudding...”, he agreed. 


	12. Chapter 12

After eating Minho’s beloved pudding, the two of them made their way back to the younger’s car. They spent the drive to Chan’s in comfortable silence, the heavy rain forcing Minho to focus more than usual. Chan dreaded going home, even though he knew that Kangmin wasn’t there. He’d enjoyed spending time with Minho so much, but he was scared of the confusing thoughts that haunted him whenever he was on his own.

“We’re here...I’ll walk you to your door. I have an umbrella in here”, Minho said, snatching a large black umbrella from his back seat. He got out of the car and walked over to the passenger’s side, opening the door for the older to get out. Chan’s heart swelled at the chivalry and he couldn’t fight the small smile that crept onto his face.

Their shoulders touched as they walked towards the building together. Once they’d made it inside, Minho folded up the umbrella and gave Chan a look. “Well...today was fun”, he said. The older nodded in agreement. “It was...your cooking is really good”, he replied. Minho chuckled and stepped forward to give him a hug.

“I hope to see you tomorrow at the showcase...”, he muttered, close enough to Chan’s ear to make him shudder. The older pulled out of their hug, giving Minho a smile. “I’ll try to be there...”, he promised. Minho looked at him for a little while longer, almost as if he still wanted to say something. His eyes flickered down to Chan’s lips and Chan found himself wishing for the younger to lean in and kiss him.

“Um...I should probably head back...”, Minho said, his eyes still on the older’s lips. Chan snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. “Yeah...um, good night”, he answered. Minho smiled at him once again before turning to leave. Chan leaned against the wall, trying to gather his thoughts. He should really stop thinking about how much he wanted to kiss Minho...

~

Minho’s phone rang, just as he’d gotten comfortable in his bed with a book after taking Chan home. It was still raining heavily, but to Minho it was just the right weather to read. When he checked his phone’s caller ID he saw that it was Jisung. He’d almost forgotten about his friend’s Hyunjin dilemma.

“Hey, you okay?” Minho asked immediately after picking up. Jisung chuckled. “You’re such a mom...yes, I am more than okay. I just wanted to call you to ask about how your  _date_  went.” He could hear the grin in Jisung’s voice. Minho rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t a date! We just hung out”, he defended himself.

“I assume Hyunjin told you about that...”, he said knowingly. He could hear giggles on the other side of the line before the younger answered: “Yeah, he did...he said you two look ‘wonderful’ together. I’ll have to confirm that myself, though.” Minho chuckled. He wished that he could make a move on Chan, but he couldn’t. He was glad his friends seemed to ship it, though.

“Go to sleep, Jisung, it’s late. And don’t keep Hyunjin up too long, we have a showcase tomorrow!” Minho switched subjects. He didn’t have to see Jisung to know that he was blushing. “W-what do you mean, keep him up! We’re just...w-what do you think we’re doing here?” he asked exasperatedly. Minho cackled. “I don’t know, you tell me”, he said. He knew how much Jisung loved to cuddle on rainy days, so that was probably what he was doing with Hyunjin right now.

“Seriously, though...I’m glad you two talked things out”, he added in a more serious tone. “So am I...”, the younger said. He sounded happy, which made Minho happy as well. At least, Jisung could be with the guy he liked. That was almost enough for Minho.

“Now go to bed!” “Yes, mom...”, Jisung replied cheekily. He heard Hyunjin call a “Night Minho”, before the line cut off. He smiled to himself. Never would he have thought, that Jisung and Hyunjin would ever end up together, but it made him really happy to know that they’d found each other.

~

Chan woke up to the front door slamming shut. He abruptly sat up in bed and listened for any further noises. He heard rustling and two small thuds like shoes falling to the floor. He furrowed his brows in confusion and climbed out of bed, yawning as he made his way to the next room only to find Kangmin standing there.

“Oh, hey...I thought you were going to be at your parents’ the whole weekend”, Chan greeted him sleepily. Kangmin glared at him like he had just said the most offensive thing in the world. “We had a fight so I came home early”, he told the younger. That surprised Chan, since Kangmin was really close with his parents.

“What happened?” he questioned carefully just as Kangmin flopped himself down on the couch. “They were upset I didn’t bring you!” the older snapped. Chan, having just woken up, really didn’t feel like being talked to like that this early in the morning. He was ready to just leave Kangmin to blow off steam by himself and try to talk to him later.

“They like you better than me, that’s the case”, Kangmin continued. Chan looked at him in exasperation. “That’s ridiculous. They’re your parents, they love you”, he answered, trying to sound encouraging, even though this conversation was giving him a migraine. His boyfriend rolled his eyes, snorting. He rose to his feet again, approaching Chan.

“You know, if you would have just come with me instead of hanging out with your oh-so-wonderful  _friend_ , I’m sure I wouldn’t have fought with them!” Chan hadn’t expected that accusation. So, now Kangmin was trying to make  _him_  responsible for fighting with his parents?

“That’s not my fault! Why do you keep blaming me for everything that happens to you?” he asked, unable to hold back at the unfairness of the situation. Kangmin snorted like Chan had just said something ridiculous. “You’re so selfish, Chan, you know that? You never think about me”, he accused the younger.

Chan took a step back in utter shock. Did he hear that right?

“That is not true! I pour my heart and soul in this relationship because I love you!” he almost choked on his words, blaming it on the tears of anger and confusion welling up in his eyes. In reality, though...saying those three words to Kangmin just didn’t feel right anymore. He noticed how long it had been since he’d said it and he couldn’t help but wonder when he’d last truly meant it...

“Sure, this is why  _I’m_  working my ass off to pay the rent!” Kangmin yelled at him. “It’s what you wanted! You were the one who had this weird fantasy of providing for me like I’m some kind of housewife! You literally guilt-tripped me into only focusing on my studies! But, fine, I’ll get a job, if that makes you happy!”

“Just stop, Chan. You’re being like that again...so ungrateful”, Kangmin said, looking at him like he was a hopeless case. His gaze alone, paired with those few but vicious words, practically made the younger deflate like a balloon.

Chan wanted to say something else, to yell or to just get out of here, but he just felt the resignation wash over him. It was too early in the morning to be fighting like this. He didn’t like it and his head was pounding already. Even if he was mad at Kangmin for treating him like this, he just felt all the strength leave his body at his words.

“Fine, I’m sorry I didn’t come with you. I’ll go wash up and make breakfast”, he said, almost monotonously, turning away from Kangmin to do just that. He wasn’t sure if his sleepy mind was imagining things, but he thought he heard Kangmin say something like “that’s more like it.”

He thought about saying something snappy, but he was just tired of everything...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet y'all missed our lovely Kangmin a lot, didn't ya  
> Yeah, me neither lol...


	13. Chapter 13

Minho had to admit that he felt more than just a little down when he got a text from Chan, telling him that he couldn’t make it to the showcase. He texted him asking him if he was okay, but all he got in response was a pretty unsatisfactory ‘yea...’ Something in his gut told Minho, that this was probably about Kangmin.

Hyunjin patted his shoulder. “We’re up in 10 minutes. Are you okay?” he asked. Minho nodded. “Yeah...I’m good”, he said. Was he, though? He had been looking forward to seeing Chan here today. But what bugged him even more than him not showing up was that he was down again, most likely because of his asshole boyfriend.

He exhaled. There was no point in getting distracted now.      

~

“How long are you going to ignore me?” Kangmin asked a few hours after their little fight. Chan was sitting on the floor at the coffee table, studying. He thought about going to the library, but he figured that if he did that, his boyfriend would just find a way to make it seem like he was running from him. He wouldn’t be entirely wrong about that, though.

“I’m not ignoring you, I’m  _studying_ ”, Chan said without looking up. Kangmin scoffed and sat down on the couch, as the younger’s phone vibrated. It was lying around on the table and Chan was about to check it, but Kangmin snatched it up before he could.

“Give it back, Kangmin...”, Chan snapped. “It’s from  _Minho_. Apparently, he missed you today and...would you look at that”, Kangmin said sarcastically, turning the phone so Chan could see the selfie Minho had attached to his message. Chan got to his feet, trying to get his phone back, but Kangmin had also gotten up, now holding the phone out of his reach. “Give it  _back_!” the younger repeated.

“I think you should stay away from this guy! He doesn’t have a good influence on you”, Kangmin said, still not bothering to hand Chan his phone back. The younger jumped up, trying to get it but to no avail. “I am 21 not eight! Minho’s nice to me, we’re friends!” “Oh, I’m sure he’s  _nice_  to you...I don’t trust him. What’s so nice about him?” Kangmin asked him.

“Well, for one he offers to get me coffee when I’m studying and-” “He comes to our house only to bring you coffee?” the older interrupted him sharply. Chan didn’t appreciate being interrupted like that, but Kangmin was getting angrier and Chan couldn’t help but think back to the night of the party; the glint in the older’s eyes as he’d threatened him.

_I’ll kill you_

“I-I mean I haven’t asked him before...but he would do it if I did...”, Chan said. Kangmin raised his eyebrows. “Really...well let’s see...” He turned away from his boyfriend, typing something on his phone. Chan tried to snatch it from his hands again, but Kangmin pushed him away.

“What are you doing?” Chan asked him. “I want to have a chat with him. Let’s see if he really shows up here with coffee only because you called for him”, Kangmin told him. Chan didn’t think he’d ever heard his boyfriend speak with so much hatred in his voice. “And what are you going to do to him when he does? Scare him away like the few other friends I had before?” he asked desperately. He didn’t want to lose Minho. He  _couldn’t_.

Kangmin didn’t answer his question, instead, he checked Chan’s phone again, scoffing when it lit up with a notification. “He’ll be here in 10”, he said in a mocking tone. Chan’s insides clenched together. “Kangmin, stop this. What are you going to gain from this?” he asked.

“I’m trying to prove a point here! Now, sit down and wait!” Kangmin snapped. It wasn’t just the harshness in his tone that made Chan do as he was told, but also the fact that his boyfriend had that scary look in his eyes again. He just hoped that Minho wouldn’t get hurt.

~

Minho climbed up the stairs with Chan’s coffee order in his hands. He was glad that he got to see him today, even if he couldn’t make it to the showcase. This way, he could tell him in person about how well the team had done. He smiled to himself as he knocked on the older’s door, waiting for him to open.

The smile fell when he wasn’t faced with Chan, but his idiot boyfriend who looked anything but amused. Kangmin stepped outside, shutting the door behind him and glaring at Minho.

“Who do we have here...”, the taller male almost growled. Minho raised a defensive eyebrow. “I’m just here to bring Chan coffee”, he said, holding up the Starbucks cup. Kangmin threw his head back and laughed. “Sure, you are. Since you seem to come running whenever he calls for you!”

Minho was slightly worried that this guy was turning slightly insane. “Um...what do you-” “You should really stop hitting on my boyfriend!” Kangmin interrupted him sharply. This time Minho was the one who had to laugh. “Please, if I  _really_  was planning to steal your boyfriend from you, I already would have!” he spat.

Kangmin slapped the coffee out of Minho’s hand and pushed him against the opposite wall with force. Minho hadn’t expected Chan’s boyfriend to get violent so quickly. The older man grabbed him by the collar and took a swing. He already braced himself for impact when the door opened again, and Chan stepped out.

“Would you stop it already! Stop driving my friends away!” he exclaimed. Minho freed himself from Kangmin’s grip and glared at him. The latter still looked like he wanted to punch him in the face, but he turned away and stormed back into the apartment. Chan looked at Minho.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry about this...”, he said apologetically. Minho waved off. “I’m fine...”, he replied. “He’s crazy. Maybe you should stay with me for the night...”, he offered, looking past the older into the apartment. He couldn’t see Kangmin, but the thought of Chan being in the same room as that guy made his protectiveness come back up full force.

“No, I’ll be okay...”, the older declined. Minho furrowed his brows. “Are you sure?” he asked. Chan nodded. “I’m sorry...”, he apologized again. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

Minho wanted to stop Chan from closing the door and convince him to come with him, but if he was sure about staying, he wouldn’t force him.

“Sure...see you later...”, he muttered instead. Chan closed the door and Minho sighed before making his way back to his car. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chan was upset, to say the least. He practically stormed into the living room, the fear he'd felt before suddenly vanished. "Why did you call him here? Only to pick a fight? Were you going to just beat him up because he was about to bring me coffee?" he yelled at Kangmin who was pacing around the coffee table.

The older spun around to glare at him. "He's into you, you blind idiot!" he shouted back at him. Kangmin was intimidating, but Chan was not going to back down so easily. "He is not...and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop calling me names..." he said. Kangmin huffed.

"You're straying from me, Chan! I care about you, so I don't want you to walk out on me for that guy!" he tried to justify himself. It only made Chan angrier. He'd endured so much over the past few years and now he had finally snapped. Today's events had been the very last straw.

"If you truly cared about me, you wouldn't always resort to calling me annoying or an idiot or a child or whatever the fuck it is I am to you!" he shouted. "For years, you have treated me like I'm your pet or your housemaid.  _'Chan, cook scrambled eggs. Chan, go grocery shopping. You're always doing everything wrong!'_ You stopped caring about me a long time ago and I've had it up to here!"

Kangmin looked a little taken aback at the younger's outburst and Chan had to say that he was shocked himself. He didn't remember the last time he had felt so much confidence around Kangmin; enough to stand up to him and stand his ground.

"Where is this coming from all of a sudden?" the older asked. Chan huffed. Of course, Kangmin wouldn't get it. He genuinely thought that he could do no wrong. "You're not even sorry, are you?" he questioned in slight disbelief. One might think that after hearing all these accusations, he would actually start to reconsider the way he treated his boyfriend.

"Sorry? For what, trying to save my relationship?" Kangmin asked. "By trapping me and making me feel inferior? That's not how this works, Kangmin! I've had enough. I'm done..." "What do you mean you're done? You're not walking out on me!" the older demanded, striding over to Chan, who looked up at him, right into his eyes.

"Watch me!"

He turned to leave but Kangmin held him back by his sleeve. "If you walk out that door now, you're going to regret it. I promise you that!" he growled. Chan held back a shudder, determined to hide his fear. "I'm not scared of you!" he shot back, yanking his arm free before all but storming out of the apartment.

It wasn't until he'd reached the door that led him outside that Chan started running. All his strength and confidence began to fade as he realized what had happened; what he'd just done. He didn't even realize he was crying until his sight became blurry, but he never stopped running. He needed to get away from Kangmin as far as possible. He wanted to feel safe again.

His feet automatically led him to the first and only person that came to his mind.

~

About 20 minutes after Minho had returned to his apartment, there was a frantic knock on his door. He furrowed his brows. It was 10pm, so who would show up at this hour? He opened the door nonetheless, only to find a completely shaken up Chan standing there.

"Channie, what happened? Are you okay?" he questioned, even though, the older very clearly  _wasn't_  okay. He was crying and shaking. Minho didn't hesitate to pull him into a hug. "What happened?" he asked again, carefully. Chan practically clung to him, his body shaking with silent sobs. Minho gently began to lead him inside and closed the front door.

Chan pulled out of the hug and let Minho take his hand. He took the older to the living room where they both sat down on the couch. Minho wiped Chan's tears away with his free hand. He wasn't sure if he wanted to imagine why he was like this right now. When he'd left the older's apartment building he had had a bad feeling.

"I...", Chan finally croaked out. "I think I just broke up with him..." Minho's eyes widened. Did he hear that correctly? "What exactly happened? Did he hurt you?" he asked. Chan shook his head and wiped at his eyes. "After you left, I told him that he needs to stop driving my friends away...I told him to stop making me feel inferior, but he didn't want to hear it...so I left..."

Minho gave the older another hug. "I'm sorry...", he muttered. "I feel like this is all my fault." Chan pulled back again shaking his head. "No, don't feel bad...this was necessary. He's...toxic. I should have done this a long time ago...", he assured the younger.

"Why didn't you?" Minho asked carefully. He didn't want to overstep or make Chan feel worse than he probably already did. The older lowered his head. "I've tried...but I...", he trailed off, trying to find his words. "I know that I let him walk all over me and I know that I should have called him out for it...but I think that I just got used to it after a while", he explained.

Minho couldn't deny that that shocked him. He couldn't understand how someone could get used to being treated like this. Then again, he didn't want to ask Chan about it. He hadn't experienced it first hand, so it wasn't his business. For now, he just wanted to make the older feel better – mostly about himself.

"I think it was because I was so familiar with him", Chan continued after a short while. "I've known him all my life and he really wasn't always like this. He got like this shortly after we started college and he couldn't keep as much contact with his friends and family from back home. He's really close to his parents usually and being away from them stresses him..."

Minho raised his eyebrow. Sure, being away from your parents was hard, especially when you moved out for the first time. But it didn't give Kangmin the right to let his pent-up frustration out on Chan.

"Besides...he's working to pay for the apartment...", Chan muttered. Minho could literally see that the other was starting to feel bad again, before he even continued speaking. "Maybe this was a mistake. He's done a lot, so I could focus on my studies. I should be-" "Don't say grateful! If he didn't treat you well, you shouldn't be grateful for anything he does, no matter if he's paying rent or not!" Minho cut in.

Chan exhaled and leaned back against the couch's backrest, bringing his knees to his chest. "You're right...but I'm just so fucking confused", he said, burying his face in his hands. Minho patted his knee comfortingly. "It's all going to be okay", he assured the older.

"Is it, though? I can't even sort out my feelings. I like you, but it's not like I've never loved Kangmin. Even after everything we still had good times...", Chan said. Minho tried not to dwell too hard on the fact that he'd just heard Chan say that he liked him, he had to stay focused.

"So, are you planning to go back to him?" he asked. Chan thought about it for a few seconds, but shook his head, much to Minho's relief. "I can't go back. Not after I finally stood my ground and especially not after he threatened me...", the older stated. The last bit caused Minho's eyes to widen in shock.

"Excuse me he did what now?" Chan avoided his gaze, as he told him about how Kangmin had apparently told him that he would regret it if he walked out on him. "Did he ever threaten you before?" Minho asked, his blood boiling with rage. Chan shook his head reluctantly. It didn't take a genius to see that he was lying. Minho gave him a look, even though Chan still didn't look at him directly.

Chan sighed before opening his mouth to speak again: "After that party...he told me that if he ever found out that I was cheating on him he'd kill me..." Needless to say, it took all of Minho's willpower not to get up and drive over to Kangmin and punch him in the face...or worse.

"You can't go back to this guy. I won't let him hurt you!" he said, his hands balled into fists. Chan finally looked at him, his eyes looked puffy from all the crying and Minho wanted nothing more than to bring his smile back and see those pretty dimples again. "What should I do? I have no friends, no place to stay...I don't even have a job. I have nothing...", Chan panicked.

Minho reached out to take one of the older's hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze, while holding eye contact. "First of all, you have  _me_. You can stay here for a while. I'll call the guys and we can get your stuff tomorrow while Kangmin's at work. We can figure the rest out later. You're not alone with this. I'll help you if you let me..."

Chan seemed to think about it. Minho didn't want to seem like he pitied the older, but he really wanted to help him. Sure, part of him wanted to get Chan away from Kangmin for his own selfish reasons. But a bigger part just wanted this angel to be free from all the toxic bullshit he'd been faced with for way too long.

"Okay...", Chan finally agreed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's been 3 months oops...  
> Um, it's currently 4am and I can't sleep, so I whipped out my 80s playlist on spotify and decided to get some writing done yay!   
> This clearly isn't my best chapter, but I figured I owed you guys an update. I'm really sorry for the long wait and I hope it won't be as long until the next one...

 

The next morning, Minho really did call his friends and asked them to help move Chan’s stuff out of the apartment. Aside from Minho's dance crew, Chan met Jisung, Minho’s best friend, for the first time. Hyunjin seemed to be a lot less gloomy than last time which might have something to do with him and Jisung practically being attached at the hip. 

Felix was actually really excited to help with the move, and kept Chan pretty distracted, talking about everything and anything while they packed up his things. It felt weird to Chan, packing his bags and leaving this long chapter of his life behind. He knew it was for the best, but a part of him was sad about how things had to end between him and Kangmin. Especially, when he thought about how well they had started out together.

“You know, back in Australia-...oh no, are you crying?” Felix interrupted his happy babbling when he looked at Chan and caught him wiping his eyes. The older shook his head. “No, I’m fine”, he assured Felix, who didn’t look like he believed him. “Really...it’s just...a lot to handle right now...”, Chan told him. “Well, if you need to talk about it…”, Felix trailed off.

Chan shook his head. Talking about how great things had been in the past before everything went downhill didn’t seem like the best thing to do right now. He’d only end up crying for real.

~

The group packed up pretty quickly, considering the fact that Chan didn’t have that much stuff and they were five people.

“You guys wait for me downstairs, I’ll check if we got everything”, Chan told them with a small smile playing on his lips as he watched the loud group exit the apartment with bags and boxes in their hands. He was really grateful for their help. He realized that for the first time since a very young age, he had found actual  _friends_. They barely knew him, yet they were so ready to help him and to listen to his problems.

He strolled around the apartment, checking if he’d left anything of his behind. When he figured that he hadn’t, he placed his house key on the coffee table before making his way out. Just as he reached for the door handle, it opened, and he was met with none other than Kangmin, who came in with a bag of groceries in his arms.  _Shit_. He was supposed to be at work for another three hours.

“Chan. Where are you going?” the older questioned coldly, setting down the bag. Chan huffed in exasperation. “Are you seriously asking me that?” Kangmin even had the audacity to look confused. It was like he had completely forgotten their last conversation. “I told you I was done with you and I meant it!” Chan explained.

“Now get out of my way!” he added, trying to push past Kangmin to finally leave this place. However, Kangmin held him back, harshly grabbing Chan’s upper arm, making the younger look at him. “You’re not going anywhere!” he growled. Chan tried to yank his arm free, but Kangmin wasn’t exactly a weakling.

“Channie?” Minho’s voice suddenly spoke up from the hallway. A second later, the younger walked through the still open door and saw the scene that was unfolding there. “Of course, I should have known that you would run straight to him!” Kangmin spat. Chan still tried to pry his ex-boyfriend’s hands off him.

Minho’s face hardened. He strode over and placed a solid punch across Kangmin’s face, which caused the older to stumble and let go of Chan. “Keep your hands off him!” Minho said as Chan rubbed his own arm. Kangmin’s surprise didn’t last very long. He took a swing and punched Minho with what seemed to be pure and utter hatred. Chan was actually surprised that the force of the punch hadn't sent Minho flying!

“Don’t tell me how to treat my boyfriend!” Kangmin yelled. Minho was bleeding from his nose, as Chan noticed in shock. “I’m no longer your boyfriend, Kangmin. Go find yourself a new pet!” he told Kangmin, glaring at him before reaching for the younger’s hand and dragging him out of the apartment before their fight could escalate more.

Chan was thankful that Minho had come to his rescue but looking at the younger’s bloody nose, he pushed that gratefulness to the back of his head for now. “You do realize that he could have done far worse than that, right?” he said, once they had reached the building’s front door. He'd seen Kangmin fight before and - no offense to Minho - but he would have lost if Chan had let them continue. 

“Was I supposed to just stand by while he treated you like his property?” Minho questioned. Chan looked at him. He wanted to be mad that the younger just carelessly threw himself at Kangmin when he actually could have gotten hurt, but for some reason he couldn’t. “Does it hurt?” he asked, instead of answering.

Minho waved off. “Mama didn’t raise no pussy”, he joked, a grin breaking out on his, still very handsome, face. Chan actually had to laugh. “Still, we should get some ice on that...” They reached the others who were waiting for them by the car. Jisung’s eyes widened when he saw his best friend with a bloody nose.

“What happened? Why are you bleeding?” he questioned frantically. Minho patted Jisung’s shoulder. “I’m okay”, was all he said. Jisung shot Chan a questioning look. “We had a small encounter with my...with Kangmin”, he explained, causing Jisung to make a face. Chan still found it adorable how much Minho and Jisung seemed to care for each other.

Jisung looked like he wanted to go up there and give Kangmin a piece of his mind and actually took a few steps towards the building’s entrance. Hyunjin seemed to know what his boyfriend was thinking and wrapped his arms around his waist to stop him, even lifting him off the ground.  “Where do you think you're going?” he questioned. 

“Let me down! I want to beat his ass!” Jisung protested. Minho chuckled. “As much as I’d love to see that, we should probably get Channie’s stuff to my place”, he said. Jisung continued struggling against Hyunjin’s grip for a few more seconds before he gave up and instead just leaned against his chest, the taller boy's arms still wrapped around his waist. Chan couldn’t help but think that they looked really cute together.

“You’re not driving like this, though”, Felix, who had just watched them with an amused expression, told Minho sternly. “I’m perfectly fine”, Minho argued. Felix raised his eyebrow. “I’ll drive!” Jisung suddenly announced. Hyunjin let him go, in order to let him take Minho’s car keys and the group finally got into the car.

“Why do I feel like we’re all gonna die”, Felix muttered, as he watched Jisung excitedly get behind the wheel. The latter ignored him and started the car, taking them back to Minho’s place where Chan would officially move in...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yea idk...


	16. Chapter 16

Minho had always deemed the guest room in his apartment pretty redundant, since he and his friends would usually just squeeze into his large bed or spread some blankets on the living room floor. Now, he was grateful to have a spare room, because he would definitely not let Chan sleep on the couch!

He was neither mad nor surprised when Chan mostly kept to himself over the first few days after his move. He figured that the older needed some time to think and to process everything that had went down between him and Kangmin. Minho didn’t know firsthand, but he figured that it must be hard for Chan, ending a six-year relationship that – according to him – hadn’t always been this bad.

Minho’s nose was healing pretty quickly. The only thing that remained was the regret to not have landed a better punch in Kangmin’s stupid face. He was boiling with anger when he thought back to the way Kangmin had grabbed onto Chan’s arm with that almost crazy expression on his face. The guy really thought that he owned Chan or something. Minho just couldn’t understand how someone could treat another person like this, especially if they were as sweet and amazing as Bang Chan.

~

“So, when are you going to tell Chan that you’re totally head over heels for him?” Jisung asked casually. Minho was currently hanging out at his best friends’ place, enjoying the fact that neither of them had any classes today. He was met with a smirk when he turned to look at Jisung with an exasperated expression.

“Excuse me?” he questioned. “Please, don’t act all innocent. You two kissed before, didn’t you? You got into a fight over him. And now that his boyfriend’s out of the picture...”, Jisung trailed off. “What, you suggest I immediately throw myself at him? He moved in two weeks ago and he’s been in his room most of the time”, Minho pointed out. “Besides, I didn't get into a fight over him! I just punched that asshole in the face. Which was well deserved!”

He was worried about Chan, but he had decided to give him the space he needed right now. He knew that the older would talk to him when he was ready. He just hoped that he would be okay after the whole Kangmin thing.

“Okay, fine...but once he gets over that prick you better make a move. It’s time you get the happiness you deserve, and this guy clearly makes you happy”, Jisung said. Minho raised his eyebrow at him. “Damn, ever since you and Hyunjin started dating you’ve become a real sap”, he teased. Jisung threw a pillow at him, laughing quietly.

“I’ve always been a sap”, he corrected his best friend. Minho couldn’t say he disagreed.

~

After class, Chan headed back to Minho’s apartment and straight to his new room. He hadn’t seen much of the younger over the past few days and he felt bad about it. Minho was generously letting him stay at his place and he thanked him by distancing himself and drowning in self-pity.

He’d spent most of these past two weeks asking himself where things went wrong between him and Kangmin. Was it his fault? Or Kangmin’s? Maybe they were both at fault...

A more pressing question on Chan’s mind was when exactly he had fallen out of love with Kangmin. At some point, the love he’d once felt for his boyfriend had turned into just  _depending_  on him because he was so used to them being a couple. They had known each other all their lives. Everyone knew that they’d eventually end up together and maybe that was why Chan had such a hard time ending the relationship...because everyone back home expected them to get married one day.

He didn’t even want to think about what his parents were going to say.

Chan sighed and proceeded to change into more comfortable clothes. His thoughts wandered away from Kangmin and to Minho. He’d been so stunned right from the beginning. Minho had encouraged him to stop listening to everybody else’s wishes and just do what he loved. He’d cared for him when he was drunk, and he’d let him move in here.

Somehow, Minho was always there when Chan needed him. And he liked it. Minho appreciated him, and he never once made him feel like a fuck-up or a disappointment. He didn’t even give him shit for mostly spending time in his room. Chan could just be himself around the younger and that felt incredibly liberating.

He figured he should stop thinking about Kangmin because the guy had been nothing but toxic to him. The love he once felt for him had faded and it was time to move on. He took a deep breath and decided to check if Minho was home yet.

The younger came home just as Chan came out of his room. He stopped in his tracks, looking back at the older. “Hey, you alright?” he questioned while taking off his shoes. Chan smiled faintly. “I think so”, he replied. The two of them headed for the living room, getting comfortable on the couch. 

“You know, I think you were right when you said that it was time for a change.” 


End file.
